March in support of dock workers' strike

UP TO 400 people from the Ringsend and Irishtown areas yesterday marched from the East Link to Dublin Port in support of striking dock workers.

The dockers have been picketing the UK-owned Marine Terminals Ltd in the south port area, in a dispute over issues including reductions in pay and allowances. About 30 workers were on the picket line yesterday.

Siptu official Oliver McDonagh said talks at the Labour Relations Commission had broken down when the company withdrew from the process.

Mr McDonagh said new management was brought in from Belfast and the UK when the company was taken over by Peel Ports Group of Merseyside, about two years ago. The new management was now seeking 37 redundancies, offering a severance package of just two weeks pay per year of service, in addition to statutory entitlements. But he maintained the last redundancy programme at the terminal had seen workers get six week’s pay, plus statutory entitlements.

He said the redundancies would leave the terminal relying on just 15 dockers which he insisted was not enough to keep it working. Siptu believed the company would ultimately have to hire new workers but in future contracts would be offered at greatly reduced conditions.

Mr McDonagh also accused the company of “bringing in ex-paratroopers from the UK supposedly to protect themselves”. But he said the management was in no danger and Siptu believed the move was an attempt to intimidate striking workers.

Attempts to contact Marine Terminals yesterday were not successful. The company has recently completed a €25 million refit of the terminal on the port’s Pigeon House Road. Its website says the terminal is now “Ireland’s largest and most modern container terminal both in size and craneage”.

Yesterday’s march disrupted traffic between Sandymount and the East Link and long tailbacks of lorries built up outside the terminal gates.

Picketing workers were speaking to lorry drivers as they arrived at the gates of the terminal, many of whom said they would lose their jobs if their cargos were late.